It may inspire films like “Avatar” and “Star Wars,” but Walt Disney’s “John Carter” did not receive the box office numbers like those movies.

Universal Pictures’ “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” maintained the top position with $39.1 million at the weekend box office. Its total gross is nearly $122 million in its second week of release.

A lot of focus was with “John Carter,” a science-fiction film gamble that cost Disney more than $250 million. The weekend box office numbers for the movie was $30.6 million, which means Disney will not reach its break-even point for the film.

The film had a good cast with Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe, Thomas Haden Church, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West and Bryan Cranston. It is based off an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel about a Civil War vet transported to Mars and ended up in a war to save the aliens on the planet.

There is a silver lining for the sci-fi film—it did have a good launch internationally with $70.6 million in 55 territories. Those numbers represent 80 percent of the total market.

Open Road’s “Silent House” opened in fourth place with $7 million. The thriller starred Elizabeth Olsen as a young girl experiencing horrific events at her family’s lakeside retreat.

Paramount Pictures’ “A Thousand Words” premiered quietly in sixth place with $6.35 million. The Eddie Murphy film is about a literary agent who must choose his words carefully after being cursed by a spiritual guru.

In rounding the top five, “Project X” dropped to third place with $11.55 million, a decrease of 45 percent from the previous weekend. And “Act of Valor” earned $7 million, a drop of 48 percent, for fifth place.

Here is the WEEKEND BOX OFFICE REPORT for March 9-11, 2012:

Source: BoxOffice.com, Box Office Mojo

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